How To Check Your Corporate’s Wellness Mindset Quotient (WMQ)

Wellness has come into sharp focus in light of the ongoing threat being posed by COVID-19. The pressing need to build “Immunity” and “Health” are being reinforced on a daily basis as this pandemic continues to unleash its devastating effects on humanity across the world. With social distancing and quarantining becoming the new normal addressing Wellness has taken on a whole new dimension. In my previous article, Corporate Wellness For Pandemic Preparedness, I touched upon a few aspects of what this means for Corporate Wellness Programming.

Before proceeding with the executional aspects of a Corporate Wellness Plan there is, now more than ever, an urgent need to address a foundational question that precedes this exercise – the need to identify what I call the “Wellness Mindset Quotient (WMQ)”.

But first things first.

What Is Meant By ‘Wellness Mindset’?

Putting it briefly, Mindset is the established set of attitudes that directly impacts our thoughts, responses and actions. Hence, by extrapolation, Wellness Mindset can then be thought to be one’s attitude towards Wellness, its perceived place (importance) in life and pursuit of achieving a level of it.

What Does It Mean In The Context Of A Corporate?

It means what place Wellness holds in the culture of the workplace, starting from the top down. Its presence, quality and degree of strength is revealed by the approach to, and implementation of, the Corporate’s Wellness Plans for all its employees, top to bottom.

“Good health IS good business.” – Paul Dreschler, Chairman, Bibby Line Group

Is There A Way To Assess The WMQ?

While there is no set scale or figure to use as a metric, a Corporate could do a self-assessment basis these questions:

• Does the top management value and practice measures for building and sustaining personal wellness?
• Does the top brass value and realize the potential of wellness as a culture at place of and as part of work (as against stand-alone/ad-hoc measures)?
• Is the senior management energized and proactive enough to initiate or spearhead measures to help wellness percolate down the ranks to its workforce?
• Does the Corporate have earmarked employees delineated at different levels to be engaged with and be responsible for wellness programming initiatives?
• Is the program designed based on employee needs, inputs and feedback or imposed as set measures?
• Are there measures in place for periodic feedbacks from end users about ongoing program efficacy and relevance along predetermined timelines?
• Does the Corporate celebrate or reward wellness gains/goals by its employees?
• Is the Corporate Wellness Plan comprehensive? This means covering a many of the principles of Wellness as possible – physical, mental/emotional, spiritual, financial, social, and intellectual.

There is all the more reason now that even if it is work-from-home, Corporate Wellness Planning still remains an important responsibility. The presence or absence of initiatives as coping mechanisms is also indicative of its WMQ.

“We are embedding health and well-being at the heart of our business strategy because our people are our greatest asset, and we recognize that a healthy, happy and committed workforce is vital to our business success.” – Alex Gourlay, Co-Chief Operating Officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.

While there is no one size fits all, the higher the WMQ, the more robust and inclusive a Corporate’s Wellness will be.

About Vani Pahwa

Vani B. Pahwa is Health & Wellness Evangelist, and Founder, Body In Motion, who specializes in Functional-Fitness, and Cancer Exercise & Rehabilitation. With almost 2 decades of experience, and certifications from leading internationally-accredited and globally-recognized fitness institutions, Vani is the leading Wellness Expert for Multinational Corporations and is a recognized Speaker and Coach. An Indian Classical Dancer, Vani encompasses her learnings from dance to everyday movement making “exercise and training for life, not just events.” To know more about Vani and her premium wellness services, visit https://www.bodyinmotion.in